The Mysterious Tragedy of The Lady be Good
by The little known mystery of a missing ww2 Liberator bomber called Lady Be Good. The sad events are listed in detail for you.
The machine guns on the aircraft still worked, a battery was connected to the radio and it worked! Water and food was found on the aircraft and the water was still drinkable as was some coffee found in a thermos flask! It was clear that all of the 9 aircrew bailed out of the Liberator before it crashed into the desert.
Outcry from concerned Americans forced a full scale search for the bodies of the aircrew in 1960. C130 transport aircraft and helicopters were despatched to the crash site. 5 of the fated aircrew were found 100mls north of the Liberator, they were seated in a circle and laid where they succumbed to the heat and lack of water.
One crew member was found alone in his half inflated parachute clearly he died on impact with the ground as his parachute didn’t deploy properly. The American task force could not find the remaining 3 aircrew, 6 bodies were flown back to America and they were buried with full military honours.
The following year another deep penetration group of oil workers from Britain discovered the 3 remaining bodies of the Lady Be Good’s crew. They were found 27mls further north than the other bodies. The co-pilot “Robert Toner” had kept a diary from when the crew bailed out it stated that, The crew were hopelessly lost and thought they were over the sea! The aircraft was running out of fuel and the captain gave the order to bail out.
8 of the 9 crew survive the bail out, with one perishing when his parachute didn’t fully open. The crew walked 100mls north with only one canteen of water! Eventually 5 of the crew were too weak to continue and sat down together. The co-pilot and 2 others elected to carry on walking in the hope of finding water and salvation.
Pieces of fuselage are now for sale on street markets for a few bucks.
Finally the brave remaining crew members perished in the desert. In conclusion it was stated the Lady Be Good was hopelessly off course and running low on fuel the captain thought he was flying over sea and ordered his crew to bail out. Navigational error was deemed the cause of the tragedy.
Unfortunately once the story broke to the public in the 60’s no one respected the war grave and the wreckage was plundered by souvenir hunters everything was stolen from the inside of the preserved B24 even the heavy engines were stolen. Complaints to the Libyan government resulted in the hulk of the Lady Be Good being crudely cut into sections and it was dumped in the back yard of their national museum. That is where the Lady Be Good is finally at rest crumpled together in an insecure back yard where thieves continue to cut sections from the fuselage and sell them on the local markets!
What a sad end to nine brave men’s life and I feel sickened by peoples lack of respect for a war grave, pillaging the wreckage to earn a few bucks on a market.
Lord Banks
Liked it
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Post Commentken bultman
On March 12, 2010 at 2:20 pm
AAA reporting of a historical tragedy. I enjoyed reading this and wept at the results.
PR Mace
On March 12, 2010 at 2:42 pm
This did bring tears to my eyes over the sad loss of these brave men and the disrespect given the memory of her crew and the aircraft. You have told this tale quite well and though it was a sad read it was a good read.
papaleng
On March 13, 2010 at 10:52 am
I first heard about this story in a National Geographic documen tary. such a tragic fate they experienced. Reading your post made the story more clear to me now. Thanks for the very educational share.
Olivia Van Logum
On March 13, 2010 at 4:41 pm
What a very sad story but a very interesting piece of history.
If only they had more experienced navigators on board, the tradegy may have been averted.
Larry Warren
On March 30, 2010 at 2:01 am
Sorry to have to say it, but this is an C- story. Too many errors.
You should always check your facts before writing an article.
Below are the corrections to make it right.
1. William Hatton DID NOT name the “Lady Be Good” because it was not his aircraft. The “Lady was assigned to Samuel “Doc” Rose who was the original pilot and neither he nor any member of his crew named her. The “Lady” was named by a member of the ground crew.
2. The B-24 was NOT lesser known than the B-17. It was just least liked by many pilots. Also, they were both SYMBOLS (NOT cymbals) of American HEAVY bombers.
3. The 514th Bomb Squadron was a member of the American ARMY AIR CORP not the Air Force. It was part of the Army until 1947
4.The mission on April 4th, 1943 was mission 109 and consisted of 28 B-24s to bomb Naples Harbor. At 1:30pm the bombers began to take off creating a sand storm. 26 of the bombers were able to take off but one of them could not retract its land gear and had to land. The other 25 bombers continued on the mission. “A” Flight consisted of 13 bombers and “B” Flight, flying slightly behind them, consisted of 12 bombers. Sorry, no sand storm after takeoff. “A” Flight had 8 bombers reach the target and drop their bombs. 5 bombers aborted and did not reach the target. “B” Flight had all of their planes abort before reaching the target. The “Lady” was leading the last group of 4 planes when she turned back and the other 3 bombers turned back with her instead of going on to the target. 23 of the bombers returned to base at Soluch and 2 bombers diverted to Malta.
5.The “Lady” was spotted the first time from the air on April 17th, 1958. She was spotted again FOR THE SECOND TIME on November 9th, 1958 by the same oil prespecting team. THERE WERE NO MORE INDEPENDENT REPORTS RECEIVED ABOUT THE BOMBER. A visit to the bomber was made by the same oil team on February 27th, 1959. They thought it was an important find and notified Wheelus Air Force Base. A recovery team from Wheelus went to the site on May 25th, 1959.
6. Concerning the color photo taken in 1959, ALL of the vandalism and theft was done by the recovery team from Wheelus.
7. It was the same oil company that, on February 11th, found five of the crew APPROX. 86 MILES North of the bomber. They were NOT SEATED IN A CIRCLE, but were laying on the ground in an irregular line running from West To East. In fact, Lt. Hatton was laying face down in the sand. If you can find a back issue of LIFE magazine dated March 7th, 1960, the color photo of the bodies will show that they were not in a circle. The photographer was standing at Hatton’s feet looking across the line of bodies when he took the photo.
8. THE 5 BODIES were flown to Germany for identification and THEN FLOWN to America for burial.
9. IT WAS NOT THE FOLLOWING YEAR that 2 more of the bodies were found. It was May 12th, 1960 that the body of Guy Shelley was FOUND 37 MILES North of the group of 5. Five days later, May 17th, 1960, the body of Harold Ripslinger was found. He was only 26 miles from the group of 5.
10. IT WAS NOT THE CO-PILOT AND 2 OTHERS who elected to carry on walking. It was the FLIGHT ENGINEER (Ripslinger) and the TWO WAIST GUNNERS (Shelley and Moore) that traveled on. Sgt. Moore’s body has never been found.
11. On August 11th, 1960 the body of the bombadier was found. He was found 14 miles northeast of the bomber. When he jumped, his parachute only partially deployed and he died on impact.
12. The photo that states “Pieces of the fuselage are now for sale…” is a photo of a B-17 and not the “Lady” or even a B-24.
13. THE HEAVY ENGINES WERE NOT STOLEN. The # 2 engine was returned to the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio, the # 4 engine disintegrated during the crash, and the other two engines are still with the bomber. (minus a few parts)
14. The “Lady” WAS NOT CRUDELY CUT INTO SECTIONS BY THE LIBYANS, but was recovered as she was found at the time. The complete wing section was returned intact when it would have been easier to have cut it in half to make it easy to carry.
15. The “Lady” WAS NOT DUMPED IN THE BACKYARD OF THEIR NATIONAL MUSEUM,but is on display at Jamal Abdelnasser Air Force Base. You can see photos of her that were taken in August of last year at this website:
http://www.rommelinlibya.com/ladybegood/lbgphotos.html
As you can see from the 15 mistakes, it is very easy to screw up a good story.
Larry Warren
On March 30, 2010 at 2:03 am
Sorry to have to say it, but this is an C- story. Too many errors.
You should always check your facts before writing an article.
Below are the corrections to make it right.
1. William Hatton DID NOT name the \”Lady Be Good\” because it was not his aircraft. The \”Lady was assigned to Samuel \”Doc\” Rose who was the original pilot and neither he nor any member of his crew named her. The \”Lady\” was named by a member of the ground crew.
2. The B-24 was NOT lesser known than the B-17. It was just least liked by many pilots. Also, they were both SYMBOLS (NOT cymbals) of American HEAVY bombers.
3. The 514th Bomb Squadron was a member of the American ARMY AIR CORP not the Air Force. It was part of the Army until 1947
4.The mission on April 4th, 1943 was mission 109 and consisted of 28 B-24s to bomb Naples Harbor. At 1:30pm the bombers began to take off creating a sand storm. 26 of the bombers were able to take off but one of them could not retract its land gear and had to land. The other 25 bombers continued on the mission. \”A\” Flight consisted of 13 bombers and \”B\” Flight, flying slightly behind them, consisted of 12 bombers. Sorry, no sand storm after takeoff. \”A\” Flight had 8 bombers reach the target and drop their bombs. 5 bombers aborted and did not reach the target. \”B\” Flight had all of their planes abort before reaching the target. The \”Lady\” was leading the last group of 4 planes when she turned back and the other 3 bombers turned back with her instead of going on to the target. 23 of the bombers returned to base at Soluch and 2 bombers diverted to Malta.
5.The \”Lady\” was spotted the first time from the air on April 17th, 1958. She was spotted again FOR THE SECOND TIME on November 9th, 1958 by the same oil prespecting team. THERE WERE NO MORE INDEPENDENT REPORTS RECEIVED ABOUT THE BOMBER. A visit to the bomber was made by the same oil team on February 27th, 1959. They thought it was an important find and notified Wheelus Air Force Base. A recovery team from Wheelus went to the site on May 25th, 1959.
6. Concerning the color photo taken in 1959, ALL of the vandalism and theft was done by the recovery team from Wheelus.
7. It was the same oil company that, on February 11th, found five of the crew APPROX. 86 MILES North of the bomber. They were NOT SEATED IN A CIRCLE, but were laying on the ground in an irregular line running from West To East. In fact, Lt. Hatton was laying face down in the sand. If you can find a back issue of LIFE magazine dated March 7th, 1960, the color photo of the bodies will show that they were not in a circle. The photographer was standing at Hatton\’s feet looking across the line of bodies when he took the photo.
8. THE 5 BODIES were flown to Germany for identification and THEN FLOWN to America for burial.
9. IT WAS NOT THE FOLLOWING YEAR that 2 more of the bodies were found. It was May 12th, 1960 that the body of Guy Shelley was FOUND 37 MILES North of the group of 5. Five days later, May 17th, 1960, the body of Harold Ripslinger was found. He was only 26 miles from the group of 5.
10. IT WAS NOT THE CO-PILOT AND 2 OTHERS who elected to carry on walking. It was the FLIGHT ENGINEER (Ripslinger) and the TWO WAIST GUNNERS (Shelley and Moore) that traveled on. Sgt. Moore\’s body has never been found.
11. On August 11th, 1960 the body of the bombadier was found. He was found 14 miles northeast of the bomber. When he jumped, his parachute only partially deployed and he died on impact.
12. The photo that states \”Pieces of the fuselage are now for sale…\” is a photo of a B-17 and not the \”Lady\” or even a B-24.
13. THE HEAVY ENGINES WERE NOT STOLEN. The # 2 engine was returned to the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio, the # 4 engine disintegrated during the crash, and the other two engines are still with the bomber. (minus a few parts)
14. The \”Lady\” WAS NOT CRUDELY CUT INTO SECTIONS BY THE LIBYANS, but was recovered as she was found at the time. The complete wing section was returned intact when it would have been easier to have cut it in half to make it easy to carry.
15. The \”Lady\” WAS NOT DUMPED IN THE BACKYARD OF THEIR NATIONAL MUSEUM,but is on display at Jamal Abdelnasser Air Force Base. You can see photos of her that were taken in August of last year at this website:
http://www.rommelinlibya.com/ladybegood/lbgphotos.html
As you can see from the 15 mistakes, it is very easy to screw up a good story.
Larry Warren
On March 30, 2010 at 2:18 am
Sorry to have to say it, but this is a C- story. Too many errors.
You should always check your facts before writing an article.
Below are the corrections to make it right.
1. William Hatton DID NOT name the Lady Be Good because it was not his aircraft. The LADY was assigned to Samuel Rose who was the original pilot and neither he nor any member of his crew named her. The LADY was named by a member of the ground crew.
2. The B-24 was NOT lesser known than the B-17. It was just least liked by many pilots. Also, they were both SYMBOLS (NOT cymbals) of American HEAVY bombers.
3. The 514th Bomb Squadron was a member of the American ARMY AIR CORP not the Air Force. It was part of the Army until 1947
4.The mission on April 4th, 1943 was mission 109 and consisted of 28 B-24s to bomb Naples Harbor. At 1:30pm the bombers began to take off creating a sand storm. 26 of the bombers were able to take off but one of them could not retract its land gear and had to land. The other 25 bombers continued on the mission. A Flight consisted of 13 bombers and B Flight, flying slightly behind them, consisted of 12 bombers. Sorry, no sand storm after takeoff. A Flight had 8 bombers reach the target and drop their bombs. 5 bombers aborted and did not reach the target. B Flight had all of their planes abort before reaching the target. The LADY was leading the last group of 4 planes when she turned back and the other 3 bombers turned back with her instead of going on to the target. 23 of the bombers returned to base at Soluch and 2 bombers diverted to Malta.
5.The LADY was spotted the first time from the air on April 17th, 1958. She was spotted again FOR THE SECOND TIME on November 9th, 1958 by the same oil prespecting team. THERE WERE NO MORE INDEPENDENT REPORTS RECEIVED ABOUT THE BOMBER. A visit to the bomber was made by the same oil team on February 27th, 1959. They thought it was an important find and notified Wheelus Air Force Base. A recovery team from Wheelus went to the site on May 25th, 1959.
6. Concerning the color photo taken in 1959, ALL of the vandalism and theft was done by the recovery team from Wheelus.
7. It was the same oil company that, on February 11th, found five of the crew APPROX. 86 MILES North of the bomber. They were NOT SEATED IN A CIRCLE, but were laying on the ground in an irregular line running from West To East. In fact, Lt. Hatton was laying face down in the sand. If you can find a back issue of LIFE magazine dated March 7th, 1960, the color photo of the bodies will show that they were not in a circle. The photographer was standing at Hattons feet looking across the line of bodies when he took the photo.
8. THE 5 BODIES were flown to Germany for identification and THEN FLOWN to America for burial.
9. IT WAS NOT THE FOLLOWING YEAR that 2 more of the bodies were found. It was May 12th, 1960 that the body of Guy Shelley was FOUND 37 MILES North of the group of 5. Five days later, May 17th, 1960, the body of Harold Ripslinger was found. He was only 26 miles from the group of 5.
10. IT WAS NOT THE CO-PILOT AND 2 OTHERS who elected to carry on walking. It was the FLIGHT ENGINEER (Ripslinger) and the TWO WAIST GUNNERS (Shelley and Moore) that traveled on. Also, Sgt. Moores body has never been found.
11. On August 11th, 1960 the body of the bombardier (Woravka) was found. He was found 14 miles northeast of the bomber. When he jumped, his parachute only partially deployed and he died on impact.
12. The photo that states: Pieces of the fuselage are now for sale… is a photo of a B-17 and not the LADY or even a B-24.
13. THE HEAVY ENGINES WERE NOT STOLEN. The # 2 engine was returned to the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio, the # 4 engine disintegrated during the crash, and the other two engines are still with the bomber. (minus a few parts)
14. The LADY WAS NOT CRUDELY CUT INTO SECTIONS BY THE LIBYANS, but was recovered as she was found at the time. The complete wing section was returned intact when it would have been easier to have cut it in half to make it easy to carry.
15. The LADY WAS NOT DUMPED IN THE BACKYARD OF THEIR NATIONAL MUSEUM,but is on display at Jamal Abdelnasser Air Force Base. You can see photos of her that were taken in August of last year at this website:
http://www.rommelinlibya.com/ladybegood/lbgphotos.html
As you can see from the 15 mistakes, it is very easy to screw up a good story.
Larry Warren
On March 30, 2010 at 2:21 am
Sorry to have to say it, but this is a C- story. Too many errors.
You should always check your facts before writing an article.
Below are the corrections to make it right.
1. William Hatton DID NOT name the Lady Be Good because it was not his aircraft. The LADY was assigned to Samuel Rose who was the original pilot and neither he nor any member of his crew named her. The LADY was named by a member of the ground crew.
2. The B-24 was NOT lesser known than the B-17. It was just least liked by many pilots. Also, they were both SYMBOLS (NOT cymbals) of American HEAVY bombers.
3. The 514th Bomb Squadron was a member of the American ARMY AIR CORP not the Air Force. It was part of the Army until 1947
4.The mission on April 4th, 1943 was mission 109 and consisted of 28 B-24s to bomb Naples Harbor. At 1:30pm the bombers began to take off creating a sand storm. 26 of the bombers were able to take off but one of them could not retract its land gear and had to land. The other 25 bombers continued on the mission. A Flight consisted of 13 bombers and B Flight, flying slightly behind them, consisted of 12 bombers. Sorry, no sand storm after takeoff. A Flight had 8 bombers reach the target and drop their bombs. 5 bombers aborted and did not reach the target. B Flight had all of their planes abort before reaching the target. The LADY was leading the last group of 4 planes when she turned back and the other 3 bombers turned back with her instead of going on to the target. 23 of the bombers returned to base at Soluch and 2 bombers diverted to Malta.
5.The LADY was spotted the first time from the air on April 17th, 1958. She was spotted again FOR THE SECOND TIME on November 9th, 1958 by the same oil prespecting team. THERE WERE NO MORE INDEPENDENT REPORTS RECEIVED ABOUT THE BOMBER. A visit to the bomber was made by the same oil team on February 27th, 1959. They thought it was an important find and notified Wheelus Air Force Base. A recovery team from Wheelus went to the site on May 25th, 1959.
6. Concerning the color photo taken in 1959, ALL of the vandalism and theft was done by the recovery team from Wheelus.
7. It was the same oil company that, on February 11th, found five of the crew APPROX. 86 MILES North of the bomber. They were NOT SEATED IN A CIRCLE, but were laying on the ground in an irregular line running from West To East. In fact, Lt. Hatton was laying face down in the sand. If you can find a back issue of LIFE magazine dated March 7th, 1960, the color photo of the bodies will show that they were not in a circle. The photographer was standing at Hattons feet looking across the line of bodies when he took the photo.
8. THE 5 BODIES were flown to Germany for identification and THEN FLOWN to America for burial.
9. IT WAS NOT THE FOLLOWING YEAR that 2 more of the bodies were found. It was May 12th, 1960 that the body of Guy Shelley was FOUND 37 MILES North of the group of 5. Five days later, May 17th, 1960, the body of Harold Ripslinger was found. He was only 26 miles from the group of 5.
10. IT WAS NOT THE CO-PILOT AND 2 OTHERS who elected to carry on walking. It was the FLIGHT ENGINEER (Ripslinger) and the TWO WAIST GUNNERS (Shelley and Moore) that traveled on. Also, Sgt. Moores body has never been found.
11. On August 11th, 1960 the body of the bombardier (Woravka) was found. He was found 14 miles northeast of the bomber. When he jumped, his parachute only partially deployed and he died on impact.
12. The photo that states: Pieces of the fuselage are now for sale… is a photo of a B-17 and not the LADY or even a B-24.
13. THE HEAVY ENGINES WERE NOT STOLEN. The # 2 engine was returned to the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio, the # 4 engine disintegrated during the crash, and the other two engines are still with the bomber. (minus a few parts)
14. The LADY WAS NOT CRUDELY CUT INTO SECTIONS BY THE LIBYANS, but was recovered as she was found at the time. The complete wing section was returned intact when it would have been easier to have cut it in half to make it easy to carry.
15. The LADY WAS NOT DUMPED IN THE BACKYARD OF THEIR NATIONAL MUSEUM,but is on display at Jamal Abdelnasser Air Force Base. You can see photos of her that were taken in August of last year at this website:
http://www.rommelinlibya.com
As you can see from the 15 mistakes, it is very easy to screw up a good story.
Lord Banks
On April 17, 2010 at 7:46 am
Thank you for all your comments. LB
1hopefulman
On October 15, 2010 at 11:52 am
I see what you meant!